I worked along the Blacklick Creek bikepath from Cruiser Ponds up to Winchester lake and Shannon Rd, looking for any early migrants or departing winter residents.  The ponds are all frozen over, but that didn't deter the many Canada Geese in the fields and the Mallards in the creek.  Raptors were also very apparent.  What was decidedly missing were sparrows, as a month of deep snow seems to have driven most of them off, even from the 'sparrowfields' around Winchester Lake.  Notables included:

Canada Geese - large flocks at many locations, mostly in snowy fields, totalling around 600 birds.
N.Harriers - 2 were contesting over a kill off Shannon Rd
Red-tailed Hawks - common, with 6-8 along this stretch of greenbelt.
Bald Eagle - an immature was hanging around frozen Winchester Lake
Pileated Woodpecker - 1 was calling in the narrow riparian strip north of Cruiser Pond
HornedLarks - 6-8 were foraging along the bikepath edge of the fields at Cruiser Pond; single flyovers were at many places
Swamp Sparrow - a single bird at Cruiser Pond was the bright spot in a dismal sparrow afternoon

I even checked out the runways at Port of Columbus on the way home for additional raptors, but could only come up with a few more Red-tailed hawks.

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